Mercer

This book was pretty whack! Torn between three stars and two, but honestly I don't think I would ever do anything besides tell someone not to read this.

I read a review that called the love interest “discount Rhysand” and tbh, cannot unsee.

This book was trite, predictable and poorly written. The characters were one dimensional, and the romance was uninspired. The way that death was dealt with was shocking—very little energy or attention given to it despite the fact that it was EVERYWHERE in this book.

Beyond that, there was zero “show don't tell” in this text. All exposition happened in conversation, nothing left to be inferred. The twist at the end was equally predictable and telegraphed.

As a YA/academia novel: the setting lacks exploration. As a romance novel, it lacks good romance, or well-written meaningful scenes. Truly it delivers on nothing. Read dragon riders of pern instead. :)

This was between a 4 and a 5 for me. I wouldn't recommend it to everyone because the content is deeply challenging and potentially triggering, but I do think that anyone who parents children should read it, whether they are fat or not.

This definitely shook my perspectives on some things and challenged what I think “effective” parenting is.

I like the world that this is set in. I think the magic etc is interesting. However, nothing happened in this book except for realllllly bad dialogue and exposition. I think the whole 400 pages took place over a week? Two weeks? I'm not sure.

I will likely read this whole series in a similar way that I read 50 shades. Which is to say with equal horror and enjoyment.

Wonderful little nuggets of wisdom from inspiring people. Interesting stories, actionable advice.

Thanks, Jeanette Walls for providing me with a memoir about a dysfunctional childhood that I actually dislike.

I would have appreciated this book more if its author had allowed me to come to conclusions on my own rather than beating me over the head with her exposition. I know it's bad that your parents were neglectful; you don't have to show me a scene and then write several paragraphs basically just saying “Look how bad it was! That's really bad right? Super crazy bad.”

There are so many other authors than are successful with utilizing a childlike tone. I was incredibly disappointed when, after reading a book everyone had told me I would love, I felt strongly underwhelmed. This is the only book I've had the urge to sell after reading.